The Way it is Supposed to Be
by raven lynn morrigan
Summary: In an alternate reality a chance meeting between two characters changes their lives forever.  COMPLETE


I redid an old fan fiction story I wrote back in the 90's about a band and changed the characters to the Teen Titans so the story wasn't just taking up space on a disk where no one ever got to see it. In this story I use only the characters, in what I like to imagine is an alternate reality. None of them have any super powers or are aliens so I use the real names or alter egos as listed in the orignal comics. So as in the case with Rachel aka Raven she is not emotionally restrainned due to her powers, etc. This story takes place with both Raven aka Rachel and Cyborg aks Victor. I decided after watching the season 3 Teen Titan DVD's (where Cyborg sings as he is driving) to leave this story as is and put Cyborg/Victor in a band. Leave a review and let me know what you think.

The Way it is Supposed to Be

The first time he saw her was during a time in her life when she was depressed and very lonely. He knew she had a problem when he saw her, and even though it wasn't normally some thing he did, he felt he had to help her...

...it started like any other meet & greet--sign some autographs, shake a few hands, say hi to those few privileged fans who are in attendance, but as soon as he saw her, with her dark indigo hair, this meet & greet became unlike any other. Victor notices she seems to be unusually quiet for a fan, especially one coming face to face with the band, but the idea that she has a problem did not cross his mind until it was his turn to sign his autograph for her. As he shakes her hand Victor notices the wound on her wrist. The one he can tell she's trying so desperately to hide. He knows she needs to talk to someone, and he has the feeling that she is the only one who noticed that she needs help. On a scrap of paper Victor scribbles an address, a time, and a simple note. "Meet me there." and on impulse he adds "When you have no light to guide you, and no one to walk beside you, I will come to you." Upon signing his name he handed her the note and the autographed picture, Hopeful that she will be there that night after the show.

***

3am

It had not been easy to sneak away from the hotel, but he arrives at the location half an hour early, not even entirely sure why he is doing it at all-there are people who's jobs are to help others who're depressed, but still he feel he has to talk to this girl in person. Victor checks his watch, its five minutes past 3, he begins to worry that she won't come, when off to his left he spies the same dark indigo hair he had saw earlier. Victor lets her come to him, scared that if he approaches her, she might run away. Victor watches as she make her way toward him. He can see that she is in pain and that she has been for quite some time. "You came."

"You took time to write the note, I knew it must be something important. And I was curious as to why you wanted me to come here."

Victor takes a deep breath, before he gently takes her hand in his and pulls up the sleeve of her oversized sweatshirt, revealing the wound on her wrist. "I noticed the cut, it happened recently."

"Why should you care? No one else does, My dad caught me trying to kill myself last night and he told me to be careful around sharp objects. Then this morning he gives me backstage pass for your concert."

"Why did you try to kill yourself?"

"No one cares about me. Mom left when I was a baby. I have no idea where she went, she hasn't called or written, all I know is she left me with dad and he has never cared about me. He buys me anything I want, but he's never been a father. Every time I have a problem I try to talk to him about, he comes home with some big expensive present. That's not love, he just tries to distract me so I'll leave him alone. He knew I was trying to kill myself he just didn't want me to do that so all his rich friends wouldn't think he was a bad father."

"Why haven't you talked to anyone?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Victor notices he's still holding her hand. "I don't think it was right for me to notice something was wrong with you and not say anything. It may sound selfish, but I would feel bad if I woke up tomorrow morning and found at that one of the girls at the concert killed herself after it was over. If there's anything at all I can do to help you then I want to do it. We, my brothers and I, really do care about our fans."

My name is Rachel."

I'm Victor, not Victor Stone, just Victor. I'll be in town for a couple of weeks, if you need to talk with someone who cares."

Rachel looks at the cut on her wrist, "You may regret having said that."

***

All that had happened five years ago-she remembers. Victor had kept in touch with her ever since the night of the concert. She went to college in LA and Victor spent every possible moment he could with her. It wasn't until around the time she turned 23 that she realized she was beginning to care about Victor as more than just a friend. Only months after admitting how they felt to each other, the two of them were married. A year later they were parents.

"Why are you acting this way, Rachel?! You knew things would be like this when we got married."

"Yes, I knew, but the children don't deserve to only see their father when he comes home from tour, and the recording studio. Do you know how much it hurts me to hear them ask if you'll be home the next day, every night when they go to bed? I know how much you love your music and how grateful you are to your fans, but damn it, Victor, you have a son and a daughter who deserve to see you even more than thousands of screaming girls do!"

"I do see my children!"

"What once every three months?! I'm surprised they even know you're their father!"

"Rachel, I don't want to discuss this any--"

"--You weren't here for their first words or their first steps! You weren't even here for their birthdays!"

"Rachel you'll wake them up, we can talk later."

"Everything is later with you isn't it?! One day you're going to come home and the kids will be grown and they'll be gone away to live their own lives. By then they won't even care if you come home or not!"

"Rachel that's enough! I said we'll talk later, in the morning--"

"--In the morning?! You want to spend the morning arguing with me, instead of spending time with the only two people in the world that could possibly love you more than I do?! I can't take this anymore Victor!" With that, even though it was the middle of the night, Rachel turns around and storms out of the back door of their home.

"Daddy!!" Four year old and three year old voices yell with delight at the same time.

Victor turns toward the stairs and watches as his children Amy and Charlie come running down the stairs toward him. He's shocked to see that both of them are pretty scraped up and that three year old Amy has a cast on her right arm. He picks them both up and holds them in his arms once they reach him. "I've missed you both so much."

"We missed you too Daddy," says Charlie as he hugs his father.

"Amy, sweetie, what happened to your arm?"

"The wreck."

"What wreck?" asks Victor as he makes his way into the living room and sits down, still holding his children.

"When we went shopping with Mommy and her friend Kori. It was raining and somebody hit Kori's car. We had to stay a long time at the hospital. 'Cause Mommy had lots of tests." explains Charlie.

"Why?" Victor asks his son.

"'Cause...'cause...I don't remember, but I know she's supposed to stay in bed that was the doctors orders--'cause she could get real sick if she doesn't." says Charlie

"It's late, why don't the two of you get some sleep and we'll spend the whole day together tomorrow."

"Really?" asks Amy excitedly.

"Really. Back to bed now." Victor gets up, carries his children back to the stairs, and watches them go back up to their rooms.

"Goodnight Daddy." says Amy.

"Goodnight."

As soon as Victor is sure that the kids are in bed, he goes to the back door, and steps outside. He finds Rachel sitting beneath the weeping willow tree in the back yard. "Rachel, why didn't you tell me about the wreck?"

"What difference would it have made Victor?"

"You should have called me."

"Why?."

"Rachel what's wrong? You've never acted this way before."

"Why do you care?"

"I care because you're my wife-the mother of my children. What's wrong? Charlie said you're not supposed to be out of bed."

"I have a concussion, and the doctor thinks I may have a ruptured spleen It's almost week since it happened, I'm fine."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"Honestly how much good would it have done? You wouldn't have come back until tonight. Everything you do is for your fans now, what about you? What about your family? Do all of the fans mean more to you than the kids and I?"

"How can you even think that?"

"How can you choose pleasing your fans over being there for your children's birthdays? The children and I could have been killed in that wreck...look I know your fans are important to you, but don't you think your family should be too?"

"You and the kids are important to me."

"Then why don't you act like it?!"

"Rachel...please stop acting like this. Just tell me what it is that's really bothering you."

"Do you really want to know what's bothering me? Lately I feel just like I felt when my mother left me and my dad didn't care about me. I shouldn't feel that way Victor. Marriage is not supposed to be like this. If it weren't for Amy and Charlie..." Rachel pulls up the sleeve of her robe to reveal the scar from where she had tried to kill herself years ago. "...Victor if it wasn't for what you did that night after the concert where we met, I would have ended up killing myself. If I didn't have Amy and Charlie to take care of I would be in the same position now. But that's not all-since the wreck all I can think about is what if I'd lost them--what if I had died-who would take care of them? Would you even care if all three of us had died?"

"Of course I would care. You, and Charlie, and Amy--you three are my family, I love you all more than you'll ever know."

"Then why don't you treat us that way? Victor you haven't been there for the children's birthdays. You weren't even here for Amy's birth--you never even saw her until she was almost a month old. We can't live like this anymore."

Victor sits down beside Rachel and holds her in his arms. "I'm sorry, Rachel. Things have just gotten out of hand over the last few years with the touring and recording--but I know that's no excuse. The next time you and the children are going to come with me, and as soon as I get a chance, we're going to take a long family vaction."

"All I want is for us to be a family more than just when you get back from touring and the recording studio. I don't want Charlie and Amy to grow up without their dad. I don't want to be without you--I married you until death do us part, not your career do us part."

"I promise that from now on where the band goes, my family goes too." Victor stands up. "Come on lets go back inside and get some sleep. Tomarrow we're going to spend the whole day together as a family."

Rachel lets Victor help her up, and they walk inside the house, together-the way it's supposed to be.


End file.
